How do delivery apps overcharge restaurants?
Last reviewed 2026-07-01
Delivery apps overcharge restaurants in the gap between the order and the payout: commission billed above the contracted rate, refunds and adjustments charged back that were the platform's fault, chargebacks the restaurant never approved, promo fees on the wrong orders, and payouts that never land. Matching each order to the payout surfaces them.
- Overcharges live between the order and the payout.
- Commission above the contracted rate is the most common.
- Refunds and chargebacks are often wrongly charged to the restaurant.
- There is no reliable public benchmark; the only way to know is to reconcile.
The payout gap
One payout nets commission, fees, refunds, adjustments, and promotions. Per-order errors vanish in the total unless you match each order back to what the platform actually paid.
The five ways money slips
Commission overcharges above your contract, refunds and adjustments charged to you in error, chargebacks you never approved, promo fees applied to the wrong orders, and completed orders that were never paid out.
Why it goes unnoticed
Order volume is high, platform statements are dense, and no one is matching orders to payouts line by line. The errors are small individually and easy to accept as the cost of doing business.
Common questions
How common is this?
Common enough that done-for-you services exist specifically to reconcile delivery payouts. The errors hit independent restaurants hardest, since they are least likely to be checking.
Can I get the money back?
Overcharges against your own orders are disputable. Documenting each against your POS makes the case.
What does the review cost?
The three-month review is free. You keep the findings and continue monthly only if you want.
See your own number, free
A free three-month review reconciles your real data and shows you exactly what is recoverable. You keep the findings.
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